Pro Biotic supplement?

Question

my horse has had wet "pancake" manure for almost 2 weeks. i wormed him early (not due till the 1st)and was told to give him a pro biotic supplement for 3 days. i have 2 days left with the supplement and i already see a difference..im just worried that when i take him off it the problem will start again. is this the kind of supplement i can keep him on daily? if he goes back to wet stools ill def call the vet again before making a decision... just seeing if anybody on here has experience w/ them.

also i have a friend who gives a probiotic a day or 2 after she worms...is this something worth thinking about doing?

thanks!!

Answer 1

Try looking into n'zymes:

http://nzymes.com/

Answer 2

Mine got Baileys Pro Biotic Feed Supplement daily (or at least one of them did) for 6 months when he was on box rest as he had diarohea (sp). I would consult your vet and ring a few feed companies :-)

ADD: I've just re-read my post and it didn't make sense. My horse was on box rest due to injury but had diarohea.....just to clarify...lol

Answer 3

I use a supplement from horsetech.com that has pro-biotic in it. I give him it everyday and have for the last 6 months. My friend has given her horse pro-biotic everyday for the last 3 years and both our horses are healthy and look great. I am not an expert in nutrition but my hoof care lady recommends it and she has studied horse nutrition and the link between it and healthy hooves. From what I understand, pro-biotics are safe and a good digestive aid  that contributes to the overall health of the horse.  It's sort of like us eating yogurt everyday to stay "regular".

Answer 4

Probiotics are the good types of bacteria and flora that live in the intestine.  People or animals that are on heavy doses of antibiotics (especially IV antibiotics) are prone to have both the bad and good types of bacteria destroyed.  Then they can get different type of intestinal problems, including a bug called C-diff (Perhaps you've heard of it, its very common in people)  If they take probiotics at the same time they take antibiotics, the c-diff and other secondary infections will be less likely because the probiotics keep the good flora going, which is used in digestion.  So probiotics serve a big purpose in both people and humans.

Probiotics are also useful in animals in stressful situations, especially if they are kept in a stall or small paddock.  Animals will naturally pick up organic matter such as silt and even some manure for the probiotic benefits, but contained animals cannot do so and therefore probably benefit from probiotics on a fairly routine basis.

I have used probiotics for several weeks after I had an injured horse who had received massive doses of IV antiobitics.  Once she was healed she remained thin, listless and cranky, so I finally decided she maybe had an ulcer or some stomach problem.  The probiotics seemed to make a huge difference.  I wouldn't hesitate to use them again in any horse that went on antibiotics.

In your case, I would think probiotics could be helpful, but I would first wonder why your horse is having such loose BMs.  I think I would do some serious investigating and talk to the vet fairly soon.  Loose BMs for two weeks is worrysome, to me.  I guess if you see an improvement with worming and the probiotics, I would continue on, but I sure wouldn't wait much longer to have him checked by the vet.  Sand ingestion would be one of my first guesses, probably because I had that problem years ago with horses that were eating dirty hay (It had been baled too close to the ground in a dry year)  All the probiotics in the world wouldn't have solved the problem, although they might have masked it a bit longer - I had to wash the hay, find the dirt and change over to different feed!

So before contining on with the probiotics I would do three things 1)try to determine the possible cause of the diarrhea 2)look carefully at the label on the probiotics for informaiton and perhaps even contact the company for their info on length of time given, etc and 3)talk to a vet by phone, and if the problem doesn't clear up, haul my horse in for a check-up.

Good luck.  I hope your problem clears up soon.